The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 eBook

and took him into the hermitage, but he was not deprived
of his life (recovered). O good Brahmana, I have
thus described to thee what happened to me of old,
and also how I can go to heaven hereafter.’
The Brahmana said, ’O thou of great intelligence,
all men are thus subject to happiness or misery, thou
shouldst not therefore grieve for that. In obedience
to the customs of thy (present) race, thou hast pursued
these wicked ways, but thou art always devoted to
virtue and versed in the ways and mysteries of the
world. And, O learned man, these being the duties
of thy profession, the stain of evil karma will not
attach to thee. And after dwelling here for some
little time, thou shalt again become a Brahmana; and
even now, I consider thee to be a Brahmana, there
is no doubt about this. For the Brahmana who
is vain and haughty, who is addicted to vices and wedded
to evil and degrading practices, is like a Sudra.
On the other hand, I consider a Sudra who is always
adorned with these virtues,—­righteousness,
self-restraint, and truthfulness,—­as a
Brahmana. A man becomes a Brahmana by his character;
by his own evil karma a man attains an evil and terrible
doom. O good man. I believe that sin in
thee has now died out. Thou must not grieve for
this, for men, like thee who art so virtuous and learned
in the ways and mysteries of the world, can have no
cause for grief.’

“The fowler replied, ’The bodily afflictions
should be cured with medicines, and the mental ones
with spiritual wisdom. This is the power of knowledge.
Knowing this, the wise should not behave like boys.
Man of low intelligence are overpowered with grief
at the occurrence of something which is not agreeable
to them, or non-occurrence of something which is good
or much desired. Indeed, all creatures are subject
to this characteristic (of grief or happiness).
It is not merely a single creature or class that is
subject to misery. Cognisant of this evil, people
quickly mend their ways, and if they perceive it at
the very outset they succeed in curing it altogether.
Whoever grieves for it, only makes himself uneasy.
Those wise men whose knowledge has made them happy
and contented, and who are indifferent to happiness
and misery alike, are really happy. The wise
are always contented and the foolish always discontented.
There is no end to discontentment, and contentment
is the highest happiness. People who have reached
the perfect way, do not grieve, they are always conscious
of the final destiny of all creatures. One must
not give way to discontent[57] for it is like a virulent
poison. It kills persons of undeveloped intelligence,
just as child is killed by an enraged snake.
That man has no manliness whose energies have left
him and who is overpowered with perplexity when an
occasion for the exercise of vigour presents itself.
Our actions are surely followed by their consequences.
Whoever merely gives himself up to passive indifference
(to worldly affairs) accomplishes no good. Instead